Talks fail to put Mideast peace plan back on track

EGYPTIAN envoys failed to achieve a breakthrough yesterday in talks with Palestinian militants aimed at arranging a ceasefire with Israel and salvaging a US-backed peace road map battered by violence.

Representatives of Hamas and other militant groups meeting in Gaza said they had demanded international guarantees for a halt to Israeli military strikes on their leaders before they would agree to stop their own attacks on Israelis.

But Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon told members of his rightist Likud party in Jerusalem: “As long as the Palestinians don't fight terror...Israel will continue to hit at the terrorists and terror organisations.”